FWD.US, an advocacy group founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other tech industry leaders to push for comprehensive immigration reform, has inexplicably decided to run ads in favor of two horrible initiatives -- the Keystone XL pipeline and drilling in Alaska...

Apr 30, 2013When a subsidiary of Mark Zuckerberg’s new political group started airing ads for expanded oil drilling and the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, CREDO Action decided to post an adof their own calling Zuckerberg out — on Facebook.

This morning, Facebook rejected CREDO’s Facebook ad (pictured right). According to CREDO Action, Facebook initially informed them they rejected the ad because it used Facebook trademarks — specifically, Zuckerberg’s image. Though the image used was fully licensed for creative commons use, a Facebook representative told ThinkProgress that any images of Zuckerberg are off-limits, as he is part of the Facebook brand. The rules governing Facebook brand usage specify “trademarks, names, domain names, logos” but does not explicitly restrict images of Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg’s group, FWD.US, is ostensibly focused on passing comprehensive immigration reform, with long-term goals of expanding scientific research and reforming education. However, the group soon started funding ads promoting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and constructing the Keystone XL pipeline. In the past, Zuckerberg has called for reducing fossil fuel usage in favor of more clean energy sources. FWD.US defended the ads as a way to shore up vulnerable Republican lawmakers who support immigration reform...

Monday, April 29, 2013

...Lead, vinyl, formaldehyde, asbestos, Bisphenol A, PCBs, and "thousands more innovations brought to us by the industries that once promised “better living through chemistry..." - "in the air we breathe and the water we drink, in the walls of our homes and the furniture within them...”

Public health historians David Rosner and Jerry Markowitz’s recent book, Lead Wars: The Politics of Science and the Fate of America’s Children, chronicles the battles that have taken place over lead poisoning for the last half-century. This post originally appeared on TomDispatch.

Your Body Is a Corporate Test Tube

April 29, 2013

by Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner

A hidden epidemic is poisoning America. The toxins are in the air we breathe and the water we drink, in the walls of our homes and the furniture within them. We can’t escape it in our cars. It’s in cities and suburbs. It afflicts rich and poor, young and old. And there’s a reason why you’ve never read about it in the newspaper or seen a report on the nightly news: it has no name — and no antidote.

A lead warning sign hangs in a window in Lakewood, Ohio, in April 2013. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

The culprit behind this silent killer is lead. And vinyl. And formaldehyde. And asbestos. And Bisphenol A. Andpolychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs). And thousands more innovations brought to us by the industries that once promised “better living through chemistry,” but instead produced a toxic stew that has made every American a guinea pig and has turned the United States into one grand unnatural experiment.

Today, we are all unwitting subjects in the largest set of drug trials ever. Without our knowledge or consent, we are testing thousands of suspected toxic chemicals and compounds, as well as new substances whose safety is largely unproven and whose effects on human beings are all but unknown. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) itself has begun monitoring our bodies for 151 potentially dangerous chemicals, detailing the variety of pollutants we store in our bones, muscle, blood and fat. None of the companies introducing these new chemicals has even bothered to tell us we’re part of their experiment. None of them has asked us to sign consent forms or explained that they have little idea what the long-term side effects of the chemicals they’ve put in our environment — and so our bodies — could be. Nor do they have any clue as to what the synergistic effects of combining so many novel chemicals inside a human body in unknown quantities might produce.How Industrial Toxins Entered the American Home..

A bee collects pollen from a sunflower in Utrecht, the Netherlands. EU states have voted in favour of a proposal to restrict the use of pesticides linked to serious harm in bees. Photograph: Michael Kooren/Reuters

Europe will enforce the world's first continent-wide ban on widely used insecticides alleged to cause serious harm to bees, after a European commission vote on Monday.

The suspension is a landmark victory for millions of environmental campaigners, backed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), concerned about a dramatic decline in the bee population. The vote also represents a serious setback for the chemical producers who make billions each year from the products and also UK ministers, who voted against the ban. Both had argued the ban would harm food production.

Although the vote by the 27 EU member states on whether to suspend the insect nerve agents was supported by 15 nations, but did not reach the required majority under voting rules. The hung vote hands the final decision to the European commission, which will implement the ban.

i just posted to my facebook wall (and others) and sent to DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE (defenders@mail.defenders.org) in response to an email promoting a Bank of America credit card --

really? wow. can't believe it. CANCEL THIS PROGRAM! B of A is not who you need to be partnering with. if you don't know why, look it up! i was a great supporter until now, but this is BS.

-- "We're delighted to present this special offer to you from Bank of America - the only credit card that benefits Defenders of Wildlife's mission. We work hard to keep you informed of important wildlife issues, and to partner with companies that support your interests as well as the creatures we protect. Please take this opportunity to learn more about this exciting partnership that allows loyal members like you to increase your support of wildlife."

UNFRIEND BANK OF AMERICA! NO PARTNERSHIP!

--- Bank of America is the biggest underwriter of coal in the US. This is unacceptable. A new BoA should fund a healthy future, not more dirty coal projects that continue to harm the health of communities across the country. Take action today. -- Read more: Coal | Rainforest Action Network: http://ran.org/coal

Coal is responsible for 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions and the U.S. is the world’s second largest coal producer. Coal-fired energy generation is responsible for pollutants that damage cardiovascular and respiratory health and threaten healthy child development. To protect our climate and public health, we must decrease our country’s reliance on coal and destabilize the power of the coal industry while building demand for a clean energy economy.

In the 21st century we should not be using this dangerous and outdated technology to power our homes, schools, hospitals and businesses. Coal mining, burning, and storage all carry significant risks to public health and to the climate. No bank or power utility should invest even one more dollar in coal. Take action today.

Wall Street banks are trashing our economy and our environment in the name of their own profits. One of the biggest banks in the world, Bank of America, is the worst of the worst: Despite taking billions in taxpayer-funded bailout money, Bank of America announced fee hikes for customers who want to use their debit cards at the same time that the bank is laying off 30,000 employees. Bank of America is also the leading forecloser of Americans’ homes and the leading funder of coal projects that are polluting our communities and wrecking the climate.

Now’s your chance to let Bank of America know that we won’t stand for its greed any longer. You'll have the opportunity after you sign the pledge to let us know why you're closing your account. We’ll take all of your pledges to stop doing business with Bank of America directly to bank executives.

Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. (C) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) were the top three financiers of the coal industry last year, according to a report today from three environmental groups.

The three banks helped underwrite bonds or loans totaling $8 billion for mountaintop removal coal-mining operations and power plants, or 38 percent of the total $20.8 billion investment for such activities last year, according to the fourth annual Coal Finance Report Card from the Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack and the Sierra Club.

Chile's government told to stop allowing firms to exhaust water sources with little regard for local people

More than 100 environmental, social and indigenous organisations protested in the Chilean capital, Santiago, this week to demand that the state regain control of the management of water, which was privatised by the then dictatorship in 1981.

More than 6,000 people took part in the peaceful "great carnival march for the recovery and defence of water" on Monday, according to the organisers, one of whom was former student leader Camila Vallejo, who plans to run for parliament as a Communist party candidate.

The demonstrators delivered a letter to President Sebastián Piñera, complaining that the water shortages affecting local communities were due not only to persistent drought but to structural problems in the policies governing the exploitation of natural resources.

This year’s May Day could be a major tipping point for the political left worldwide. Here’s a classic quote from Matt Taibbi that clues you in to what’s at stake:

“Goldman Sachs, the world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”

Next week, on May 1st, let’s hone in on a single target, the top evildoer — that unrepentant corporation that continues to flaunt its money-worshiping criminality and reward its CEO Lloyd Blankfein. His persistent grin is getting a little too hard to bear.

Goldman Sachs has 73 offices in 56 cities worldwide … On May Day, come have some fun with us in front of every one of them. We’re going to thrill the world by shutting down this criminal corporation for a few hours with our voices and our right to the people’s assembly – let’s wipe that grin off Lloyd Blankfein’s face!

Get the address of the #Goldman location nearest you at Meetup, then recruit friends on Facebook, Twitter and in real life … see you out there!

for the wild, Culture Jammers HQ

P.S. This ongoing #GOLDMAN campaign will have another big bang moment on May 23 when Goldman Sachs holds its shareholder meeting in Salt Lake City.

NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW - Flyer

home

...and if anyone is threatened by advertising, air pollution, television, or the police, they should chant SMOKEY THE BEAR'S WAR SPELL and SMOKEY THE BEAR will surely appear to put the enemy out with his vajra-shovel....

News from Survival International

latest posts to this news & random blog

SEE ALSOnewsfeeds at WHATS UP nuclear blog
•
newsfeeds at WHATS MORE art & studies blogWHAT NEXToriginal content copyright Robert Cherwink 2009 - 2016
mostly copyfree | contact for permissionsThis site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. For more information go here. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.